


The King is Dead

by orphan_account



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Toni is fierce, set after Cheryl becomes a Serpent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 07:27:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15625725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: How does Toni react when she learns the truth about Betty blackmailing Cheryl to testify for FP?





	The King is Dead

The mood is both cheerful and somber as the Serpents toast their new member and their new King. They're sad to say goodbye to their old leader, worried for the future, but hopeful. Cheryl sits down next to her girlfriend, handing her another drink.

"As much as being led by Jughead seems like an unmitigated disaster in the making, I must say I'm relieved that middle aged gremlin is slinking off to wait tables and scrub toilets full time."

"What do you mean?" Toni replies, perplexed.

"Don't get me wrong, dearest, I was willing to tolerate FP's loathsome presence if being Serpents brought the two of us closer together, but it's much better this way, don't you think?"

Toni stands up and crosses her arms over her chest. "Why would you talk about FP that way?"

"How do you expect me to talk about the man who dumped my brother's body in the river like a rejected fish?"

"I thought you forgave him. You testified at his hearing to help lessen his sentence."

"Only because your pal Jughead and that stone cold bitch Betty Cooper blackmailed me by threatening to release the footage of Jay Jay's murder and spread it all over the internet. I would have relished in seeing that monster put away for decades and left to rot." Venom drips her from her voice.

Her words shock Toni. She had no idea Betty was capable of something like that. When she considers the purpose behind it, she has to admit she's a little impressed. She has seen enough people sent to prison to understand how rigged the system is against people like her, and feel that only the very worst of humanity deserve sentences like they had tried to condemn FP to.

"I would have done the same thing."

Cheryl is stunned. "If that was a joke, it wasn't funny," she says, a warning tone in her voice.

"FP is like family to me. He's looked out for me when I had nothing. He's a good man, one of the best I've ever met. He was put in a horrible spot by your psycho father and this town was wrong to make him a scapegoat and try to throw him away."

"Are you really taking their side over mine?"

"If blackmailing you is what it took for you to act like you have a heart, I'm glad they did it."

"This isn't like you, Toni. You never disagree with me!" Cheryl stamps her foot.

"No. And that's how you like it, isn't it? You just expect me to be your emotional support all the time. You don't know the first thing about me!"

Toni shakes her head. She thinks of all the insults she forgave without even an apology, all of Cheryl's clueless, privileged comments she let slide. She feels like a fool now.

"All this time, I gave you a chance because I thought you had done something good for the Serpents. I thought you must be a good person deep down. But it wasn't true. You're exactly the cold, cruel, selfish person you seemed like."

"Selfish? You call me selfish, after everything I've been through?"

"We're all going through shit, princess, which you'd know if you'd ever stopped to ask even one question about my life. Did you know I've been couch surfing the whole time we've known each other, because my uncle locks me out of his trailer?"

Cheryl's mouth opens and closes wordlessly.

"No, you didn't. I've listened to you whine about how much smaller your new mansion is, heard you claim you're in poverty now without your father's drug fortune, and you've never even thought about where I live."

"Well excuse me if I was a little self-centered after my stint in conversion therapy!"

"A little? You're always self-centered, Cheryl. I've been shoved around and handcuffed in my own school when I'd done nothing wrong. I get treated like a criminal everywhere I go. You don't see me bullying people for things they can't control. Just because you've been hurt doesn't give you the right to hurt everyone else."

"Unbelievable! If you're going to be like this, we're done!" Cheryl strips off her red jacket and throws it in Toni's face before stomping off, mud squelching under her stilettos.

Fangs and Sweet Pea hear the commotion and come over, Fangs still unsteady on his crutch.

"That was a short-lived membership," Sweet Pea mutters. "Never even got the tattoo."

**Author's Note:**

> This is a parody of the many Choni fics I have been unfortunate enough to stumble upon that reduce Toni to Cheryl's attack dog. If you do this, you are terrible and racist, especially if you use Toni as a mouthpiece to bash and victim-blame Josie.


End file.
